Scott: I think the Beast is almost run out, personally.

[SM]

Be shorter if they get rid of some of the clunkier stuff like Upworth choking.

[Huggs]

Regardless of where the prequels head from here, I hope they begin to lean more towards science, and less on philosophy. What I mean here is, in the original film, there was a lot of effort that went into making the ship and technology feel real. Yes, there was a xenomorph, but my favorite parts of that film were always the little stuff. Brett and Parker working on things, the tracker and prod demo, the medbay examination, consulting mother, the descent to lv-426. This sort of stuff really sold the movie and made the downtime much more interesting. Everywhere you looked, there was something to see being done, something being used. Even I'd be going goo-gaws over these prequels if they followed David and his research more specifically. 2 Hours of fassbender going Frankenstein with some covenant tech, like Advent on steroids. That I'd love to see.

[TC]

Regardless of where the prequels head from here, I hope they begin to lean more towards science, and less on philosophy.
...

Scott has some really interesting "scientific" thoughts, and some other embarrassing ones too.

For example: I'm sure I recall Scott saying of the xeno's transparent dome, as designed by Giger, great but WTF with the human skull in there? His simple solution was to have the creature team overspray it with semi-transparent paint around the edges to disguise what's inside. Why didn't he like the skull? Well, scientifically speaking, why would an alien species have a human body part? Hence (speculation here), I think one of his inspirations for Prometheus was to answer this 1 question which had been nagging away in his brain for 30 years.

OTOH, one of the writers must surely have said to him re: the Engineer ancestry to humans; So what, are we just going to ignore 1,000,000 years of human evolution and fossil records, then? But in this case the obvious lack of scientific rigour didn't bother him.

As for Shaw's line about believing in God because she chooses to believe; and asking, if the Engineers created Man then who created them? I think Scott thought he was getting into some deep, meaningful philosophy but it really comes across as rather twee, once-over-lightly schoolboy stuff.

I know what you mean about the depiction of technology that went into the film's design. I got a big thrill out of Ron Cobb's stuff especially. The layout and construction of the escape shuttle, the autodoc in the medbay, the doodads and gadgetry required to obtain a passcard to get into Muther's computer room. Only 2001 had gone to this level of detail.

Also, I like the way Scott chose to follow 2001's lead in terms of spaceflight.  Notice how the Nostromo departs the refinery after detaching from the "claw".  The engine nozzles fire up in a brief burn and then the ship goes back to coasting - just the way real spacecraft manoeuvre. This is not what you see in most sci-fi these days (including Prometheus). Nowadays, when a spaceship has forward velocity its engines are depicted on and lit up (Star Wars style).

And I'm sure there are some throw-away lines on the bridge while landing and later on when taking off (as part of the crew chatter). "Hold on people, inertial damping's coming off, there could be a little bump", "artificial gravity engaged" or something like that. I think we can thank O'Bannon for these bits of detail.

These kinds of things gave Alien '79 a science-fictional style that's still a bit unique to this day.

TC

[Huggs]

The muther sequences were definitely some of my favorites. With the prequels, sometimes it does feel like we're just passing through on a philosophical journey. I really loved the more technical feel of the original film. Perhaps we are so used to technological advances now, that the appearance of more advanced technology is enough. The technology and day-to day have become an easy sell, so other things take the spotlight. Granted, there are some scenes in the prequels that would qualify. Like Walter's work during the first minutes of the movie, or David working with the black goo in Prometheus. I would've loved to have seen some more interaction with the juggernaut in Covenant, and especially some engineer tech in the city.

When I say less philosophy, I'm not implying theology though. It's not that Scott is completely disregarding any scientific basis, merely that he's so pre-occupied with David's place in the universe that the universe itself is being ignored. The engineer homeworld could've provided an entire movie's worth of new and exciting concepts, but David with his complex comes through and we're left to watch him wax philosophical as people die off. David's work in his "lab" during Advent was fascinating. But I'm afraid his daddy issues will continue to remain at the forefront of the films, much to the detriment of the series.

[The Cruentus]

Covenant featured the best alien-bursting-from-a-human-body scene since 1979. It's no longer scary (and more importantly disturbing) because we've seen it before. The same with aliens stalking people in dark corridors and shafts or swarming a barricaded compartment. It's all familiar. You know how it will play out.
I don't think there' anyone against good characters, but keep in mind that in Alien the characters are archetypes. It's not like the chestburster scene succeeded because Kane was such a compelling character.

Oram's death throes were good but the burster itself wasn't in my opinion, doesn't look the part.

The Chestburster scene in the original is hard to top for sure, I would say Aliens would be next and then maybe Alien3/AVPunrated.
I only include the last part because unlike Requiem, the first AVP at least had the chestbursters chewing/pounding/pushes its way out of the host whereas in Requiem, it just pops out too quickly.
The rib cage is a sturdy structure, it would take a lot of chewing and pushing before it would emerge, hence why Kain was in debilitating pain before his chest even started to bleed and explode.

[TheBATMAN]

I still believe replicating the 'big chap' from '79 is the way to go because we haven't seen it since the original film. The xenos these days seem to be too small and their behavior often contrasts the creepy original.

For some reason I found myself watching AVP the other day and the sequence where Connors, Verheiden and Miller get taken in the tunnels, why are the Aliens pointlessly shrieking and hissing in the shadows so much? It's comical.

[NetworkATTH]

I still believe replicating the 'big chap' from '79 is the way to go because we haven't seen it since the original film. The xenos these days seem to be too small and their behavior often contrasts the creepy original.

For some reason I found myself watching AVP the other day and the sequence where Connors, Verheiden and Miller get taken in the tunnels, why are the Aliens pointlessly shrieking and hissing in the shadows so much? It's comical.

We barely got to see it do what it needed to do, because of technical limitations; but if they matched the Alien exactly as it was in 1979, I still hope they don't make it run like beep beep the road runner. It feels like everyone wants to make the Alien a bloody velociraptor. I wouldn't mind if it bounded around, but...the 1979 guy was pretty slow and deliberate with what it did

My biggest fear is that combined with the need for every monster to run at warp 9, and the desire to make it do scenes they originally wanted to do but couldn't because of the costume's restrictions, that if they did it there would be this weird disconnect of how both of them acted.

I don't want to imagine the Alien, the one who started it all, just wasn't fast because it had stiff muscles

[TheBATMAN]

I prefer the way it was curious. The way it watched Brett for a good few minutes as if sizing him up before making its move. Likewise the way it snuck up on Lambert and Parker in complete silence. Even in the vents with Dallas, it made no sound. Total contrast to the silly hissing and screeching it does in the later films when in similar situations.

I think Scott seems too intent on blaming the creature as played out when really I think it is the the filmmaker's inability to showcase it in a new and interesting way. It's still one of the greatest creature designs ever and a majority of filmmakers working in the horror/sci-fi genres would kill to get their hands on it.

[NetworkATTH]

I prefer the way it was curious. The way it watched Brett for a good few minutes as if sizing him up before making its move. Likewise the way it snuck up on Lambert and Parker in complete silence. Even in the vents with Dallas, it made no sound. Total contrast to the silly hissing and screeching it does in the later films when in similar situations.

I think Scott seems too intent on blaming the creature as played out when really I think it is the the filmmaker's inability to showcase it in a new and interesting way. It's still one of the greatest creature designs ever and a majority of filmmakers working in the horror/sci-fi genres would kill to get their hands on it.

I think Scott always thought what made the Alien effective, it's limitations, were a disappointment, but they really make that film. He understands the soul of the series well, but he doesn't understand how well the seductive movement of the creature complimented that same very soul.

[Scorpio]

Likewise the way it snuck up on Lambert and Parker in complete silence. Even in the vents with Dallas, it made no sound. Total contrast to the silly hissing and screeching it does in the later films when in similar situations.

They didn't have the sound effects back in the 70s to pull that off.

But actually the alien does make a sound, it is a weird sound that's hard to describe, but it is there.  And before you say "it's the soundtrack", it's not on the soundtrack, I checked.

[Munkeywrench]

Likewise the way it snuck up on Lambert and Parker in complete silence. Even in the vents with Dallas, it made no sound. Total contrast to the silly hissing and screeching it does in the later films when in similar situations.

They didn't have the sound effects back in the 70s to pull that off.

But actually the alien does make a sound, it is a weird sound that's hard to describe, but it is there.  And before you say "it's the soundtrack", it's not on the soundtrack, I checked.

I know what you mean I think. It's kinda like a buzzing sound? It IS hard to describe

[SM]

They didn't have the right sound effects in the 70s??

[NetworkATTH]

I forgot the guy's name, but it wasn't an analog effect, or maybe it was mixed, but the credits list this old radio guy from Britain at the time who often did impersonations and mimicked animals well. I can't tell if he did it himself or mixed it.

[SiL]

They didn't have the sound effects back in the 70s to pull that off.

That might be the dumbest thing you've ever written. If they wanted it to make more noise it would. It screams just fine at the end.

[Local Trouble]

That might be the dumbest thing you've ever written.

That's a bold statement.